Political TV ads too much for viewers?

We’ve all seen the advertisements on TV that have been interrupting the much- anticipated television show premiers. The ads are generally touting how candidate A is a better choice for freedom than candidate B — or vice versa.

Over the past several months, the United States has been overrun with TV commercials promoting the upcoming presidential election. And there is a reason for it: The American public is being slammed with presidential promotions.

According to Advertising Age, “those in a sampling of politically crucial markets already are seeing anywhere from three to 12 times the number of presidential ads from recent cycles.”

Because of the increase in advertising from political candidates – namely, the presidential candidates — according to AdWeek, “Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker raised her estimates for political spending from $4.9 billions to $5.2 billion.”

The target market for these advertisements, according to AdWeek, are the “700,000 to 800,000 voters in the entire country that are persuadable.” A total of 1,842 presidential ads aired in Columbus, Ohio during Aug. 15-22 – a whopping three times more than the 608 presidential ads that aired the same week eight years ago. In 2008, only 832 spots were aired.

A total of 43,000 political advertisements per week will be aired until Nov. 6.

But the question remains: What are the advertisements really accomplishing?

For the most part, viewers are annoyed and frustrated with the constant political push – after all, that’s part of the tactic of both parties: to get people to the polls.

Some may be deterred from voting because of the political ads, while others may form their political opinion based solely on the verbiage spouted within TV advertisements. Caution should be exercised in both areas.

It is recommended that individuals not form their opinions based in highly-inflated TV commercials, but do the research themselves.

After all, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest,” according to Benjamin Franklin.